14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung Electronics announced that it has brought improvements to the flexible LCD panel introduced in January this year. The company said that they will produce a larger, higher resolution version.
Samsung officials say that the latest prototype is a 7 inch display with VGA (640 X 480 pixels) resolution. The last prototype was a 5 inch model with a 400 by 300 pixels resolution.
Both flexible display versions are based on amorphous silicon TFT (thin-film transistor) technology, a common manufacturing method for LCD panels. But unlike conventional LCD panels, that are made of sheets of glass, the prototype panels are made on another material, namely plastic. Plastic allows various sizes and shapes, also being more durable than a traditional panel.
Samsung refined the manufacturing method for the panel. Now, the two major parts that go together to make a display panel, the TFT panel and the color filter, are attached together. This technology minimizes the distortion that can occur when the panel is bent should the layers not be attached.
A Samsung spokeswoman said that the company has not determined a schedule for the commercialization of the panels, but they are considering the market situation. Also, specific plans were not mentioned.